The genre that made every outsider feel seen, and left the system completely intact.

High school movies are a pressure valve. They make you feel understood just enough that nobody asks why the hierarchy is still standing. In this episode we look at the unwritten rules of the genre the cliques that never go away, the parties where the hunting ground has a John Hughes soundtrack, the adults who fail you, the one who doesn't, the lesson that costs nothing, and the rule underneath all the others: you just have to get through it. Featuring The Breakfast Club, Heathers, Pretty in Pink, Clueless, Booksmart, Mean Girls, Easy A, and Carrie.

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Email: pegasuspodcasts@gmail.com

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Written and produced by Neil

Music by Oliver Chapman

Recorded and mixed by Oliver Chapman at Sirkus

Sources:

The Breakfast Club (1985), dir. John Hughes

Pretty in Pink (1986), dir. Howard Deutch

Weird Science (1985), dir. John Hughes

Heathers (1988), dir. Michael Lehmann

Clueless (1995), dir. Amy Heckerling

Carrie (1976), dir. Brian De Palma

Mean Girls (2004), dir. Mark Waters

Easy A (2010), dir. Will Gluck

Booksmart (2019), dir. Olivia Wilde

Pump Up the Volume (1990), dir. Allan Moyle

American Pie (1999), dir. Paul Weitz

Porky's (1981), dir. Bob Clark

*Any resemblance to a real podcast is purely coincidental. No animals were harmed. May contain nuts. People who read all the show notes are undeniably sexier than those that don't. Subscribers to my Substack agree that their appearance visibly improved within 10 minutes.